Universal timepiece



A ril 21, 1953 L. COTTIER' 2,635,414

UNIVERSAL T-IMEPIECE Filed July 5,1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 JMVMW Kouis 0 H A++0PM c7 Apnl 21, 1953 COTTIER 2,635,414

UNIVERSAL TIMEPIECE Filed July 5 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Qww on +or 10 vi: (2 Hver April 21, 1953 L. COTTISER UNIVERSAL TIMEPIECE A H'u M17 Patented Apr. .21, 1953 UNIVERSAL TIMEPIECE Louis Cottier, Geneva, Switzerland Application July 5, 1949, Serial No. 102,966 In Switzerland July 7, 1948 9 Claims.

The present invention relates to a universal timepiece, that is to say to a timepiece which is able to indicate the time in all the time belts of the globe. This timepiece is characterised in that it comprises on the one hand a first dial above which moves at least one hour-hand controlled by a watch-work through the intermediary of a coupling device, and a second dial divided in time-belts above which an index can be moved, and on the other hand a movable member manually controllable against the action of a return spring for momentarily disengaging said hour-hand from the work and for moving it on a way variable accordingly to the position of the index above the second dial so that it indicates at every time the time it is in the time-belt designated by the index.

The annexed drawing shows, by way of example, three embodiments of the object of the invention.

Figure 1 is a plane view of the first embodiment.

Figure 2 in a vertical section thereof.

Figure 3 shows a detail at a greater scale.

Figure 4 is an axial section of the same detail at a greater scale.

Figure 5 is a plane View of the second embodiment at a very smaller scale.

Figure 6 is a plane view of the third embodiment, some parts being torn out.

Figure '7 is a plane view of a detail, at a greater scale.

In the embodiment shown in the Figures 1 to 4, intended to be used more specially in the instrument-board of an airplane, a rectangular casing, not shown, contains a base plate carrying a rectangular plate 2 on the upper face of which are indicated, for instance engraved, printed or transferred, two dials 3 and 4. The dial 3 is divided in twenty-four time-belts and carries, opposite each division 5 the name of the principal towns in the time-belt corresponding to this division. At the center of the dial 3 is pivoted an index 6 mounted on a shaft 1 pivoted at its lower extremity in a bridge 8. A corkscrew cam 9 is centered on the shaft I and secured on said shaft. The cam 9 is provided, at its periphery, with twenty-four sections I0 10 to I0 the length of which is diminishing from the section I 0 the outermost, to the section 10, the nearest from the shaft 1.

The dial 4, divided in twenty-four hours is centered on a watch-work l I carried by the base plate I, and provided, at its center, with a minute-hand l2 and two hour-hands I3 and 14.

The hands l2 and 13 a e mounted at the usual manner to operate, in a continuous movement, the first one revolution around the dial per hour, the second one revolution around the dial per twenty-four hours. The second hour-hand I4 is secured by means of a gear [5 of one piece with a disc 16 and loosely mounted on the sleeve ll of the hour-wheel l8. The disc I6 is provided, at its periphery, with a notch IS in which engages manually the beak 20 of a jumper 20 secured through a screw 2| on the upper face of the hour-wheel l8. The disc l6 and consequently the gear i 5 and the hand [4, are thus normally coupled with the hour-wheel l8 and operate thus, as the hand l3, one revolution per twenty four hours; the notch [9 of the disc [6 is arranged in such a way that the coupled hand It should be in alignment with the hand [3 and should indicate the same hour as this one.

On a shaft 22, pivoted in a plate 23 above the base plate I and in a plate 24 under this latter, are secured, under the plate I, an arm 25, and above the plate I, a toothed sector 26 the gearing of which 26' has the same module and the same number of teeth as the gearing of the gear [5 so that a clockwise displacement of the sector 26, under the action of a spring 21, can produce a counter-clockwise rotation of the gear I 5 up to a whole revolution. The free end of the arm 25 carries a pin 28 able to thrust against the edge of the corkscrew 9 when the arm 25, dependent on the shaft 22 of the toothed sector 26, moves in the clockwise direction under the action of the spring 21. A push-member 29 is slidably mounted on a pin 30 secured on the plate 24 and is subjected to the action of a coil spring 3|. The lower end of the pushmember 29 is provided with a conical surface 32 able to cooperate with the extremity of the arm 25 opposite to the pin 28 for holding this arm in the position represented in Figure 1 when the push-member 29 is in its rest position represented in Figure 2, position in which it is normally held through the spring 3|.

The operation of the described timepiece is the following: Let us suppose that this timepiece is mounted on the instrument-board of an airplane the home port of which is Paris or London. The watch is set for indicating constantly on the dial l the time of the time-belt of Greenwich. On the dial 3, the index is brought opposite the division corresponding to this timebelt and the corkscrew cam 19 which is dependent in rotation on the index 6 occupies the position represented in Figure 1, position in which its outermost section I0 is opposite the pin 28 of the arm 25. At rest, the arm 25 dependent on the toothed sector 25 is held in the position of Figure l by the conical surface 32 of the pushmember 29 under the action of the spring 3|. The sector does not mesh with the gear [5 dependent on the disc l6 and on the hand It. The disc l6, coupled to the hour-wheel 18 by the jumper 29, rotates with said wheel and the hand Hi moves with the hour-hand 13, on the extent of one revolution around the dial per twenty four hours. If a push is given to the pushmember 29, the arm 25 will be released and the sector 26 together with the arm 25 andthe shaft 22 will begin a rotation in the clockwise direction under the action of the spring ZT. But the pin 28 thrusting immediatelyagainst the section 58 of the corkscrew, the displacementof the sector 25 will not make possible for it to mesh with the gear l5 and the hand [4 will remain in alignment with the hand l3.

Let us now suppose that; the airplane is; making for BuenosAires, andjthatl the pilot. desires to know at every .time during the-travel the time at his destination. He brings then the index 6 opposite the division of the dial-3 indicating the time-belt of Buenos Aires, bringing thus the section i of the corkscrew opposite the pin 28 of the arm25. From this moment, every time when he pushes on the push-member 29, the arm 25 being released will rotate in the clockwise direction under the action of the spring 2'5 until the pin28 comes to' thrust against the section E8 of I the corkscrew and the sector 25 will efiect a correspondent angular displacement meshing with the gear Hand-driving it inrotation in the counter-clockwise direction on 1 of a revolution, the beak'2c' of. the jumper being moved by the rear little inclined plane of the notch 59. The hand 14 is thus disconnected and is brought four hours back, thus indicating the time it is at this moment in thetime-belt of Buenos Aires, while the. hour-hand. i S-continues to indicate the time of Greenwich. As 'soon as the pressure on the push-member is released, the conical surface 32 acts: on'the arm cunder the action of the spring 3|:and obliges the whole 25, 26,22 to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction until the beak 20' of thejumper 28 comes to enter in the notch Hand to join again the disc 16 with the hour-wheel [8 together. The hand I4 is brought back in alignment with the hand 13. The minute-handv I2 is not influenced by the operation of the pushmember.

It is understandablethat the hand l2 could be suppressed and that the dial 4 could bea twelve hours dial.

Figure 5 shows schematically an embodiment of the timepiece in which the dial 34 of the watch work is superposed with the dial 33 of the timebelts, this latter occupyingall the surface of a rectangular plate and the index 35 moving linearly along the edge of this dial 33. The index 35 can, when moving, operate a screw 36 which, through a gear can rotate a corkscrew (not shown) identic to the one of the first embodiment. The operating-device of the hand 14 can be identic to this of the first embodiment. The time-belts can be indicated by luminous points on the map of the globe which is shown by the dial 33.

In the third embodiment (Figures 6 and 7), the timepiece comprises a frame'constituted by two parallelbase plates 4| and 42 between which are arranged a part of the universal-hour mechanism and the watch-work. The upper plate i M is provided with an opening, a window 53; the dial, designated by 44, has been partly torn out in Figure 6 to make visible some parts of the mechanism. The watch-work is designated by 55; the hour-dial by 46. An index 61 can be manually moved opposite graduations d8 corresponding to the difierent time-belts. This indeX operates a corkscrew cam tlland a cam 53 provided at its periphery with notches in which enters a jumper 5|. There are as many notches as there are sections on the cam 59. A

doublearmed lever 50* and 69 is articulated at El on the frame. The arm 6i] carries a pin 62 intended to "cooperate with the sections of the .camJlfi. A spring 63 acts on the double armed lever and tends-to hold the arm 60 pressed against this cam. The arm 6B carries, articulated at 64 on it, a toothed sector 65. A spring 66 carried by the arm' 66 acts on the sector 65 toapply its gearingagainst a gear 61 controlling .the hour-hand of said timepiece. This gear is dependent on a cam 68 provided with a protection fili' (Figure 7),.with which cooperates a pawl 59 carried by the hour-wheel of the work 5, designated by Hi. The wheel 10 drives the'gear 81 by the intermediary of the pawl 69. The'teeth of the gear 1 and .of the toothed sector 65 are small so that the gear and the sector can enter in contact one with the other in every relative position, without it should be necessary to operate a substantial angular displacement of one of, them. Moreover, the frame carries twolevers articulated on it. The first one, designated by ll is elbowed. It is articulated at ll-and carries, at its elbow, a pin '13 which makesit possible to move it manually against the action of ,a return spring Hi. This lever carries moreover apin l5 cooperating with the toothed sector 65 to move it away from the gear Bl, against the action of the spring 65. The second lever, designated by'lfi is articulated at H on the frame. This lever can be moved against the action of a return spring '53 by means of the pin 13. The leverlfi. cooperates with a projection of the arm 60 The operation of this timepiece is the follow- "The index 41 is brought opposite the division of the scale 48 which oorrespondsto the time-belt of the locality the time of which at the present moment it is desired to be known. The pin 13 is then moved in the direction of the arrow 80, what. has for eifect to bring the sector to mesh with the gear 67, without substantially displacing this gear; owing to the fact that the teeth coming into contact are small and that the point of the sector 65 which enters into contact with the gear moves radially with respect to said gear. The lever '16 is likewise displaced. However, it does not. release immediately the double armed lever. It is only when the extremity of the lever 76 has left the edge of the projection 60 that the double armed lever moves according to the arrow 8i, under the action of the spring 63. This displacement stops when the pin 62 thrusts against the cam 59. Thus it is the position of the cam 49 which determines the amplitude of this displacement during which the gear 61 is driven by the toothed sector 85, on such an extent that the hands indicate then thetime of the desired locality. The spring'l l being stronger than the spring 63, when the pin 13 is releasedythe lever H comes back to its initial position driving the double armed lever. The toothed-sector 65 drives then the gear 67 in a direction opposite to the direction of the previous displacement. As soon as the projection 68 of the cam 68 thrusts against the pawl 69, the gear 61 is stopped and the toothed sector 65 leaves the gear 61. The double armed lever comes soon at the end of its way, and the lever 16 takes again its initial position, under the action of the spring 18 which makes it to thrust against the fixed pin 19.

What I claim is:

1. In a universal timepiece, a frame, a first dial, at least one hour-hand moving above said first dial, a watch-work operating said hourhand, a coupling device between said watchwork and said hour-hand, a second dial divided in time-belts, a shaft rotatably mounted on said frame and passing through said second dial, a corkscrew cam secured on said shaft and situated under said dial, an index secured on said shaft but situated above said second dial, a movable lever intended to thrust against the edge of said cam, a toothed sector secured to said lever, a gear on which said hour-hand is mounted and with which said toothed sector is intended to mesh, a spring operating said lever for driving said hour-hand through the intermediary of the toothed sector and said gear, and manually operable control means for releasing said lever, which is then displaced by said spring, and for bringing back said lever into its initial position.

2. Universal time piece as claimed in claim 1, comprising an hour-wheel provided with a sleeve, a disc and a jumper provided with a beak, in which timepiece said gear is of one piece with said disc this latter being loosely mounted on the sleeve of the hour-wheel, and being provided at its periphery with a notch in which engages the beak of said jumper, this latter being secured to the hour-wheel.

3. Universal timepiece as claimed in claim 1, in which the dial of the watch-work is divided in twenty-four hours, the hour-hand operating one revolution in twenty-four hours.

4. Universal timepiece as claimed in claim 1, in which the dial showing the time-belts is circular, the index being able to be circularly displaced above said dial.

5. In an universal timepiece, a frame, a first dial, at least one hour-hand moving above said first dial, a watch-work operating said hourhand, a coupling device between said watch- Work and said hour-hand, a second dial divided in time-belts, a shaft rotatably mounted on said frame and passing through said second dial, a corkscrew cam secured on said shaft and situated under said dial, an index secured on said shaft but situated above said second dial, a movable double armed lever, one of the arms of which is intended to thrust against the edge of said cam, a toothed sector articulated on the second arm of said lever, a gear on which said hour-hand is mounted and with which said toothed sector is intended to mesh, a spring operating said double armed lever for driving said hour-hand through the intermediary of the toothed sector and of said gear, and manually operable control means for bringing said toothed sector to mesh with said gear, through a rotation of said sector around its articulation, this latter being situated substantially on the tangent to the gear at the point where the sector enters into contact with it, in such a way that the part of the sector which enters into contact with said gear moves subsantially radially in respect with said gear, said control means releasing then said 6 double armed lever which oscillates under the action of said spring and drives said gear by the intermediary of said toothed sector, the arrangement of said control means being such that said control means allows to bring all the displaced members back to their initial positions.

6. Universal timepiece as claimed in claim 5, in which a spring bears on the one hand on said double armed lever and on the other hand on said toothed sector and tending to apply this latter against said gear.

7. In an universal timepiece, a frame, a first dial, at least one hour-hand moving above said first dial, a watch-work operating said hourhand, a coupling device between said watchwork and said hour-hand, a second dial divided in time-belts, a shaft rotatably mounted on said frame and passing through said second dial, a corkscrew cam secured on said shaft and situated under said dial, an index secured on said shaft but situated above said second dial, a movable double armed lever, one of the arms of which is intended to thrust against the edge of said cam, a toothed sector articulated on the second arm of said lever, a gear on which said hour-hand is mounted and with which said toothed sector is intended to mesh, a spring operating said double armed lever for driving said hour-hand through the intermediary of the toothed sector and of said gear, a manually operable first lever acting on said toothed sector to hold it out of contact with said gear, a second lever situated under the control of said first lever and acting on said double armed lever against said spring, and springs for each of said first and second lever intended to hold them in their operating position, a play being provided between the first and the second lever so that the first can be slightly displaced without operating the second, whereby the operation of the first produces firstly the meshing of the toothed sector with the gear, and then the displacement of the second lever to unlock the double armed lever.

8. In an universal timepiece, a first dial, at least one hour-hand moving above said first dial, a watch-work operating said hour-hand, a coupling device between said watch-work and said hour-hand, a second dial divided in time-belts, a movable member situated under said second dial, a manually adjustable index rigid with said member but situated above said second dial, a manually controllable device for momentarily disconnecting said hour-hand from said watchwork and for rotating said hour-hand, said device comprising a movable lever, said movable member being arranged so as to be situated on the path of said lever which thrusts against said adjustable member, that stops this device and thus the motion of the hour-hand, whereby it is possible to displace said hour-hand along a way variable according to the position of said adjustable member.

9. In an universal timepiece, a frame, a first dial, at least one hour-hand moving above said first dial, a watch-work operating said hourhand, a coupling device between said watchwork and said hour-hand, a second dial divided in time-belts, a shaft rotatably mounted on said frame and passing through said second dial, a corkscrew cam secured on said shaft and situated under said dial, an index secured on said shaft but situated above said second dial, a manually controllable device for momentarily disconnecting said hour-hand from said watch- 7 wo k and or rofiatin said. h ur-hand sai d vice renc Ci in the fi r of this a t wmpr mg mqv ble l v r ai c rks r am UNTTED A E PATENTS h m rran so as t9 he, t a ed n, the P t of said Ievr which thrusts against, said Carp, Number Name Date thatstops this device and thus the motion of the 5 1,041,576 15, 1912 hour-hand, whel gby it is pqss ible to displace said 2,456,122 Gullden c- 14,1943 hour-hand along a way va riablq according to the FOREIGN PATENTS poslulqn of 531d cam, Number Country Date LOUIS COTTIER. 10 2,072 Great Britain of 1353 

